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Fragment
India (found at Fustat)
15th century (?)
India
has exported textiles for several thousand years as
witnessed in many ancient written sources. However,
relatively few of these textiles actually remain, so
when a group of textile fragments that appeared on the
Egyptian market early in the 20th century were shown
to have originated in western India, they were met with
great interest. Found in the old Egyptian capital of
Fustat, south of present day Cairo, the fragments remain
our best evidence of early Indian textile skills. They
are of cotton patterned with blocked and painted resists
and dyed with indigo. Some utilize mordants, usually
a metallic salt, to bind a red coloring agent to the
fiber. The examples range from coarse cottons to more
finely worked items. Recent carbon dating places examples
from the 11th to the 17th century.
Warp:
cotton. Weft: cotton
Stamped and drawn resists, dyed blue
The Textile Museum 6.120, acquired by George Hewitt
Myers in 1947
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